Hate crimes, cyberbullying & the Rutgers spy cam case

The ruling against Rutgers student Dharun Ravi, who used a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi, provides stern warnings regarding the punishment for bullying by young people and the prosecution of hate crimes. Clementi committed suicide after Ravi activated his computer’s video-chat device while his roommate, who was gay, was engaged in a sexual encounter. Then Ravi went on to talk about it on Twitter. He was not charged with causing Clementi’s death, but was convicted of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, and tampering with a witness evidence, and could serve up to 10 years in prison. We’ll deconstruct the case against Dharun Ravi and discuss its implications for the future of hate crimes law, cyber law and bullying with DANIELLE CITRONof the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law and SUZANNE GOLDBERG of Columbia School of Law.

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